Overall the 23rd green banking project has been a success, it has taken along time to complete mainly due to the weather, however with the persistence and dedication of all the greenstaff we have improved the playability of the hole.
This morning our agronomist Robert Laycock visited the course to advise on any problems we are experiencing and talk through our maintenance practices for the forthcoming months. He visits the course 3 times a year and produces advisory notes working in conjunction with my self and the Deputy Head Greenkeeper, Adam Newell. Together we then prepare maintenance strategies for all areas of the golf course which fit our budget, labour and machinery resources. The reports are available for the committee and the members to view.
Adam and Robert
Robert and myself on the 11th
Robert has been involved with research and advisory work on various
aspects of turf for over thirty years. He has an unparalleled range of
experience and interests in this field.
Following university, where he studied close-mown turf, he worked on turfgrass research at the Sports Turf Research Institute, Bingley for 6 years. It was while working at STRI that he developed the new optical point quadrat which has been widely used and cited in scientific works around the world. In 1981 he left to work in a technical capacity for plant breeding and grass seed production companies. He is now an agronomist and turfgrass scientist operating in the UK from a North Yorkshire base. He has been advising at Malton and Norton for around 5 years. He has also advises at a number of other golf clubs across the country including some prestigious clubs such as Woburn, The London Golf Club and all the Marriott UK golf venues.
Other jobs done today were installing surface drains at the 10th and 12th, cutting the rest of the fairways, cutting semi, cutting greens, removing some low branches and finishing spraying some areas of clover
